Science in Society Awards

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The Science in Society Journalism Awards provide recognition for investigative or interpretive reporting about the sciences and their impact on society and are funded by the National Association of Science Writers without subsidy from any professional or commercial interest. Cash prizes are awarded and entries are open to all and free for members. The most recently updated rules are available on this page. The awards are open for submissions from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1 each year.

Winners include a history of in vitro fertilization that draws parallels with current controversies over human cloning and stem-cell research; a documentary on how the melting of the Arctic is affecting travel, business opportunities, and international diplomacy; an analysis of the danger of an avian influenza pandemic, drawing on the lessons of the devastating 1918 flu epidemic; and a vivid account of the effect of climate change on the Colorado Rockies.

Stories about the seriously flawed national flu vaccine program, the historic decoding of the human genome, the struggle to preserve the New England fish population, the inadequate science behind the country’s dietary fat dictates, troubling questions about depleted uranium lingering in former war zones, and the tantalizing potential of methane hydrates all earned top honors for journalists in the 2001 Science in Society Journalism Award.

Stories about a contentious set of 9,000-year-old human bones found in the Pacific Northwest, dauntless AIDS-prevention efforts targeting women in Africa, the complex scientific challenge of global warming, academic integrity in peril from commercially sponsored research, and the fight over genetically engineered food all earned top honors for journalists in the 2000 Science in Society Journalism Awards.